I don’t get the draw of these scroll-wheel based Nav/Computer systems that BMW/Audi/Merc use. Considering Ford can afford to put an actual touch screen with excellent voice recognition (for those that prefer not to get fingerprints on the screen, or who prefer the higher speed of input that simply speaking to the car enables, or who want to be able to give commands while driving and not taking their eyes off the road), why can’t the luxury marks move into the 21st century and realize that no one wants to put up with navigating with a wheel on some virtual on-screen control.

BMW got the idea from Apple to have a scroll wheel that could easily control multiple car functions, and then everyone else copied BMW.

The 745Li was a novel idea executed with neolithic incompetance. Its still an attractive car here in NYC, for those buying em used for $39,000, but, the revisions of the system in the copycats are so much better.

Honestly, I love the one in my S550. I couldn’t buy a car without it. Its a great feature that doesn’t feel like a gimmick.

For example, being able to set the massage pressure of my chair, the passenger chair, or being able so select destinations on GPS without lifting my lazy arms – is just awesome.